Customer Reviews

Presidential Temperament: The Unfolding of Character in the Forty Presidents of the United States

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As an architect, I create systems, structures, and models. To catalogue and categorize some thing so complex as the range of human personality is a Sisyphean task. I think the authors have done an incredible job. I would recommend reading PUM and PUM 2 for additional illumination. This election year, we seem to be more concerned with the candidate as a person than in recent memory; this book is indispensable in this regard.

My daughter gave me this book when it was first published in 1992. It gave me a clearer picture of who the political candidates were then and continues to help me analyze not only politicians but people I interact with every day. I understand more about myself and how to deal and work with others. I am a Rational and long range strategic thinking comes natural to me. My husband is a Guardian and my daughter an Idealist and knowing their strengths and weaknesses has helped our home run smoothly. With elections near at hand I have once again used this book to analyze the many candidates and feel I will vote with a better understanding of what type of president each of them will be. When I hear people talking about the character of the current candidates I recommend they read this book, as it is an invaluable tool.

The authors provide us with extensive biographical information on each of the presidents, and a lucid, thorough explanation of how temperament infuenced the actions of each president; in the same political climate, leaders with different personality styles may well have made different decisions. The book is well written, interesting, and extremely relevent in a time when many Americans are questioning the character of their highest officals and preparing for a new presidential election. It gets a "two thumbs up" rating!

Choiniere and Keirsey provide portraits of each president, linking them to the four temperaments outlined in Please Understand Me. In the section on Leaders, Please Understand Me II refers to some of what they found, but in "Presidential Temperament", a complete picture emerges of the kind of man behind the public persona, with information on their wives that illuminates as well, a demonstration of relationships betwen real people of varying styles--such as Eleanor Roosevelt and FDR--an Idealist (NF) and an Artisan (SP). As an aid to learning to see temperament patterns in others, this book is an invaluable guide--each man held the same job, which provides a frame of reference in seeing how they differ. For those fascinated by looking at others, or for politically inclined types, this is a must read.

Understanding the temperament of a person - the hows and whys of their decision-making processes, is like finding a hidden key to what drives them. Even more interesting is Choiniere's understanding of what drives the President's partner... why, for instance, is Hillary one of the most fascinating, dynamic and powerful woman in the White House... Written in language easy to understand, and using a process that works, Choiniere and Keirsey show once again what experts they are in this field.

As someone who loves US history, politics, and psychology, I've always been fascinated by books which try to "psychoanalyze" Presidents and historical figures. Two books which have done this are Dr. James David Barber's "Presidential Character" and William Strauss and Neil Howe's "Generations", which looks at US history throught the prism of four generational types, which repeat themselves in cycles (they argue that the Baby Boomers are the descendants of the Puritans!). And this book, "Presidential Temperament", uses a system which should be familiar to many readers. The book's authors use the well-known Myers-Briggs Type Indicator to "type" each of our Presidents. Many businesses and schools use the Myers-Briggs test, but for those who are not familiar with the system, it tests people on four different sets of preferences (Extrovert-Introvert, Sensing-Intuition, Thinking-Feeling, and Judging-Perceiving). Thus, there is an "ISTJ" type (quiet, reserved, methodical, thorough, practical, etc.); an "ESFP" type (outgoing, "touchy-feely", compassionate, idealistic, spontaneous, etc.), and so on. The test is not supposed to be used to judge or rate other people, as every type is useful and necessary to make our society function. In "Presidential Temperament" the Myers-Briggs test is applied to all of our Presidents since Washington. The authors use biography and history books to examine the childhoods, personalities, leadership styles, successes and failures of the Presidents to place them into one of three Myers-Briggs types: Artisans, Guardians, and Rationals (a fourth type, the Idealists, have never had a US President, according to the authors. Instead, leaders such as Gandhi and Eleanor Roosevelt fall into this category). The Artisans are the "SP" types - fun-loving, optimistic, tough-minded, and above all, action-oriented. They love the "action" part of politics - they live in the "here-and-now" and are great at dealing with crises. Among the Presidents in this category are both Roosevelts, John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton. The "Guardian" types are the "SJ"s - they are tradition-oriented, generally honest and reliable, addicted to duty and "law-and-order". They are the good managers and administrators who keep things running smoothly, but they dislike change. According to the authors, George Washington, Woodrow Wilson, Harry Truman, and the first George Bush all fall into this category. The final category are the "Rationals" - they are "NT"s on the Myers-Briggs scale. They are the visionaries and strategists - they can marshall great forces to accomplish great things, but can be undermined by their distaste for showing emotion and "people skills" in public. They are extremely intelligent, but can come across as arrogant or aloof. Thomas Jefferson, both Adamses, Abraham Lincoln, and Dwight Eisenhower are all Rationals, according to the book. After "typing" each President, the authors then show how their temperament type affected their Presidency - Jefferson the Rationalist designing the University of Virginia and envisioning a continent-size United States, hence the Lousiana Purchase; Franklin Roosevelt the Artisan "Performer" dealing with the twin crises of the Great Depression and World War Two, etc. This is all truly fascinating, even if you don't always agree with the author's claims. However, the book is severely hampered by the numerous factual errors that I found. For example, in the chapter on Bill Clinton they listed his birthday as August 19, 1947 (it is actually August 19, 1946), and then later in the same chapter gave his birthdate as August 14, 1946. John Quincy Adams' birthday is given as July 11, 1967 (he was born in 1767), and Eisenhower's birthday is listed as October 14, 1880 (he was born in 1890). Woodrow Wilson is listed as having lived in Atlanta during the Civil War, but he actually lived in Augusta, not Atlanta. The chapter on William Henry Harrison even has an incorrect photograph - it has a large photo of James Buchanan labeled as Harrison! While these errors may seem insignificant by themselves, taken together (and there are numerous other inaccuracies, from presidential birthdays to biographical information) they cast some real doubt on the author's credibility and research. In short, while "Presidential Temperament" is a fascinating "psychological" look at our Chief Executives, the many historical errors left me wondering just how much "research" and editing the authors put into their arguments - and that overall makes the book something of a disappointment.

Profound understanding of what makes Presidents tick. This book answers nagging questions about our current and past Presidents. Most importantly, it provides in-depth understanding of what we voters should be considering when we evaluate the presidential choices before us. For example, how would McCain's personality contrast with Bush's? If our relationship with Russia heats up, would it be better to have McCain, Bush, or Gore in the White House? A must read for any thoughtful voter.

The subject matter of this book serves as an interesting canvas for Keirsey's theories. I really came away from this book with a deeper understanding of the four temperaments. More than other books, I felt this one gives the reader the raw material to differentiate between different personality types. I also think it provides a wonderful way of understanding our presidents. Although great differences between presidents with the same personality prevents this from being the last word on how to deconstruct our presidents, it is nonetheless a very powerful tool. The sections for each of the four temperaments provides tons of info on how temperament affects leadership style. Highly recommended for presidential and temperament enthusiasts.

Ever since my highschool history teacher was 'recruited' to teach psychology I've been interested in the psychological examinations of historical events and people. This book not only gives a good historical overview of the presidents of the united states, but also interesting psychological profiles - insights as to why they did what they did, and thier motivations, more or less based on the meyers-briggs type indicator. I reccomend this book for historians and psychologists alike - it gives the best of both worlds.

I've only read portions of the book so far, and I'm sure to enjoy the rest with my interest in both temperament and American history. But I wanted to note that when I recently ordered this, Amazon neglected to ship the supplement with newer presidents. The book itself goes only up to George Bush, Sr.